Despite advances in information technology and process streamlining with respect to travel arrangements, the modern traveler may be often subjected to unnecessary delays, petty inconveniences, and oppressive paperwork. These travel burdens are most evident in the airline, hotel, and rental car industries, where arranging and paying for services and accommodations can involve significant time delays due to miscommunication, poor record-keeping, and a host of other administrative inefficiencies.
Like barcode and voice data entry, RFID is a contactless information acquisition technology. RFID systems are wireless, and are usually extremely effective in hostile environments where conventional acquisition methods fail. RFID has established itself in a wide range of markets, such as, for example, the high-speed reading of railway containers, tracking moving objects such as livestock or automobiles, and retail inventory applications. As such, RFID technology has become a primary focus in automated data collection, identification and analysis systems worldwide.
Of late, companies are increasingly embodying RFID data acquisition technology in a fob or tag for use in completing financial transactions. A typical fob includes a transponder and is ordinarily a self-contained device which may be contained on any portable form factor. In some instances, a battery may be included with the fob to power the transponder. In which case the internal circuitry of the fob (including the transponder) may draw its operating power from the battery power source. Alternatively, the fob may exist independent of an internal power source. In this instance the internal circuitry of the fob (including the transponder) may gain its operating power directly from an RF interrogation signal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,774, issued to Schuermann, describes a typical transponder RF interrogation system which may be found in the prior art. The Schuermann patent describes in general the powering technology surrounding conventional transponder structures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,328 discusses a method by which a conventional transponder may respond to a RF interrogation signal. Other typical modulation techniques which may be used include, for example, ISO/IEC 14443 and the like.
In the conventional fob powering technologies used, the fob is typically activated upon presenting the fob in an interrogation signal. In this regard, the fob may be activated irrespective of whether the user desires such activation. Inadvertent presentation of the fob may result in initiation and completion of an unwanted transaction. Thus, a fob system is needed which allows the fob user to control activation of the fob to limit transactions being undesirably completed.
One of the more visible uses of the RFID technology is found in the introduction of Exxon/Mobil's Speedpass® and Shell's EasyPay® products. These products use transponders placed in a fob or tag which enables automatic identification of the user when the fob is presented at a Point of Sale (POS) device. Fob identification data is typically passed to a third party server database, where the identification data is referenced to a customer (e.g., user) credit or debit account. In an exemplary processing method, the server seeks authorization for the transaction by passing the transaction and account data to an authorizing entity. Once authorization is received by the server, clearance is sent to the point of sale device for completion of the transaction. In this way, the conventional transaction processing method involves an indirect path which causes undue overhead due to the use of the third-party server.
A need exists for a transaction authorization system which allows Fob transactions, particularly travel-related transactions, to be authorized while eliminating the cost associated with using third-party servers.